Men's Ice Hockey

Bears Score Twice in Final Five Minutes to Force 6-6 Tie with Harvard

PROVIDENCE, RI - Junior David Robertson (Saunderstown, RI) scored a power-play goal with 4:24 remaining to bring the Brown men's ice hockey team (9-12-6, 5-11-4) to within 6-5 and then with freshman Dan Rosen (Syosset, NY) pulled from the net, junior Sean Hurley (Rutland, VT) tied the game at 6-6 with 12 seconds left to force a 6-6 tie with Harvard (10-15-2, 8-10-2) in an Ivy and ECACHL contest Saturday night at Meehan Auditorium.

The game started off with a wild first period as the two teams traded goals three times to head into the first intermission knotted at 3-3. Harvard got on the board with a power-play goal just 5:07 into the game, but junior Jeff Prough (Farmington Hills, MI) tied the game 2:20 later when he scored on a Brown power-play. Freshman Jeremy Russell (St. Albert, ALB) made a great play at the right point to keep the puck in the zone, while getting pressured by a Harvard defender. He knocked it over to sophomore Matt Vokes (Auburn, MA) high in the slot and Vokes crossed it over to Prough who was all alone at the bottom of the left face-off circle. Prough waited for Kyle Richter to drop, before burying his shot far side.

However, Harvard responded 2:10 later with another power-play goal to grab a 2-1 lead at 9:37. Prough answered for the Bears, scoring his second power-play goal of the game at 12:06 off assists from Russell and junior Brian McNary (Edmonton, ALB).

Just 1:12 later the Crimson again beat Rosen, scoring the first even-strength goal of the night when Kevin Du knocked in the rebound of his own shot. But, the Bears would not quit, and McNary scored Brown's third power-play goal of the night off assists from Hurley and Robertson with 49 seconds left in the period.

Freshman Sean McMonagle (Oakville, ONT) gave Brown a 4-3 lead at 12:11 of the second, beating Richter on a one-v-one with a back-hander over Richter's glove. However, Harvard again tied the game, scoring on yet another power-play with 1:21 left before the second intermission.

The Crimson scored back-to-back goals in a span of 52 seconds to take a 6-4 lead with 9:03 left in the game. Robertson, tallied his second goal of the year, on the power-play, at 15:36 to bring the Bears to within one and then with Rosen out of the net, Brown was awarded another power-play. With time winding down on the clock, senior captain Sean Dersch (Edmonton, ALB), who was back in the lineup after missing five games with an injury, won an offensive zone face-off back to Robertson. Robertson moved the puck over to Hurley and he blasted a shot through Richter's five-hole to tie the game with 12 seconds left.

Brown dominated the overtime, outshooting Harvard, 6-0, but Richter stopped all six shots as the two teams ended in a 6-6 draw.

Robertson's four points led six different Bears with a multiple point night, as Prough (2g, 1a), Hurley (1g, 1a), McNary (1g, 1a), Vokes (2a), and Russell (2a) all had more than one point. McNary and McMonagle also stretched their point-scoring streaks to five games as McMonagle has 2-3-5 totals in those five games and McNary has 1-6-7 numbers in those five games.

Rosen recorded 25 saves, while Richter made 32 saves for Harvard. The Bears, who can still host a first-round series for the ECACHL Tournament, will be on the road next weekend when they travel to the Capital District to face RPI and Union.